Thursday, November 30, 2006

An Ancient Computer Surprises Scientists - Antikythera Mechanism

The Journal Nature has reported a new study on the Antikythera Mechanism found in a Roman Wreck over 100 years ago. It is a mechanical device to compute the movements of the moon, and is now thought to be the most advanced scientific instrument until 1000 years later. What else may the ancient Greeks have invented which we have no record of?

"The mechanism, presumably used in preparing calendars for seasons of planting and harvesting and fixing religious festivals, had at least 30, possibly 37, hand-cut bronze gear-wheels, the researchers reported. An ingenious pin-and-slot device connecting two gear-wheels induced variations in the representation of lunar motions according to the Hipparchos model of the Moon’s elliptical orbit around Earth."

An interesting point that was raised on a Radio 4 programme about the subject was that the word 'Antropos' from which we get Antropology, and which is the name for humans in Greek, means someone/thing who looks at the sky.